Monday, November 22, 2010

Weekend Herb Blogging #260 - Recap

Thanks again for joining in to celebrate the 5th birthday of Weekend Herb Blogging. Through the week dishes have been arriving from all corners of the globe to take their place on our celebratory table.

Claire finds a new use for the last of her fresh basil by making a red curry paste. The paste contains red chillies, coriander and cumin seeds, peppercorns, lemongrass, basil leaves, shallots, jalapenos, garlic, ginger, lime peel, cinnamon,cloves, nutmeg and cardamom. It can be frozen or used to make Claire's delicious Thai Curry.

Ela has the most amazing basil plants I've ever seen and she puts them to excellent use in all manner of dishes - from pesto to pasta, as an addition to stir fried shrimps and even as part of floral decorations.

A traditional Indian recipe made with local and seasonal ingredients is how Soma describes this dish. The butternut squash and brown chickpeas are spiced with home made Panch Phoron, chili, ginger and turmeric. With its festive colouring and imaginative flavourings this would be an ideal dish for those upcoming celebrations.

Simona asks the question whether we've ever seen and bought fresh cannellini been - after seeing the photos of those striking white beans in their pods, I'm sad to say that I haven't. Simona uses these beans in a warm salad of oven roasted cherry tomatoes topped with finely grated cheese - served with good crusty bread this is sure to satisfy.

Anh will be hosting WHB next week but for now, she's sharing this simple yet delicious Turkish Carrot Yoghurt Dip. Grated carrots are first sautéed and once cooled are added to a mix of yoghurt, garlic and lemon juice. The end result is light and refreshing.

In the case of this tart, it is absolutely love at first sight. The combination of cauliflower and cheese is food nirvana but wrap it up in a pastry case and add caramelised onions and I will soon be knocking on your door to have some.

WHB Mastermind Kalyn creates a South Beach friendly version of the Waldorf Salad - it's a mix of granny smith apples, celery stalks & leaves and toasted walnuts. I particularly love the addition of celery leaves - so often they are discarded but they have such wonderful flavour - the paler leaves found near the heart of the celery are especially good. The dressing is made with lemon juice, dijon mustard, agave nectar and olive oil.

Why buy pre-made spice powders when you can make your own? For this gorgeous black bean and butternut squash chili, Janet makes her own chili powder - a mix of Aleppo Chili flakes, smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, oregano and garlic powder. Another surprise comes in the addition of apple juice as Janet says "Its sweetness allows you to dial up the heat higher than you might otherwise"

There's a great story behind this dish but I especially love that it brings a new way of cooking daikon. The spice element comes from a paste made with shallots, garlic, dried shrimp, chillies and belacan. The sliced daikons are first simmered in this spicy stock before coconut milk is added to finish the dish.

From next week Brii will be hosting and managing the Italian version of Weekend Herb Blogging but this week she's made a traditional preserve from the Veneto region. This is a mix of quince, pears and apples which are cooked in white wine. Once soft, candied fruit and sugar is added before the final addition to make it a true Mostarda - mustard essence.

Can you hear that popping sound? That's my popcorn maker working hard so I can make this ASAP. The caramel is made with butter and maple syrup and once it reaches the correct temperature, rosemary, salt and baking soda is added. It's then tossed through the popcorn and baked. I imagine this will be the cause of the great corn kernel shortage of 2010.

It is the season of celebrations and Claudia's chutney provides an intriguing alternative to cranberry sauce. This chutney is a mix of passionfruit syrup, starfruit and cranberries which are spiced with cardamom, ginger and red pepper flakes. All we need now is the turkey!